Astonishing Stories was an American pulp science fiction magazine,
published by Popular Publications between 1940 and 1943. The magazine's
first editor was Frederik Pohl, who also edited a companion
publication, Super Science Stories. The budget for Astonishing was very
low, which made it difficult to acquire good fiction, but through his
membership of the Futurians, a group of young science fiction fans and
aspiring writers, Pohl was able to find material to fill the early
issues. The magazine was successful, and Pohl was able to increase his
pay rates slightly within a year. He managed to obtain stories by
writers who subsequently became very well known, such as Isaac Asimov
and Robert Heinlein. After Pohl entered the army in early 1943, wartime
paper shortages led Popular to cease publication of Astonishing. The
final issue was dated April of that year. The magazine was never
regarded as one of the leading titles of the genre, but despite the low
budget it published some well-received material. Science fiction critic
Peter Nicholls comments that "its stories were surprisingly good
considering how little was paid for them", and this view has been
echoed by other historians of the field. (more...)
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Edmund Fitzgerald
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_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1002:
St. Brice's Day massacre: King Ethelred II ordered the massacre of all
Danes in England.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethelred_the_Unready>
1927:
The Holland Tunnel, connecting New York City's Manhattan with Jersey
City, New Jersey, under the Hudson River, opened.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holland_Tunnel>
1965:
The steamship SS Yarmouth Castle burned and sank about 60Â miles
(100Â km) northwest of Nassau, Bahamas, killing about 90 people.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Yarmouth_Castle>
1970:
The Bhola tropical cyclone hit the densely populated Ganges Delta in
East Pakistan (now Bangladesh), killing an estimated 500,000 people.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1970_Bhola_cyclone>
1992:
The High Court of Australia ruled in Dietrich v The Queen that although
there is no absolute right to have publicly funded counsel, in most
circumstances a judge should grant any request for an adjournment or
stay when an accused is unrepresented.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dietrich_v_The_Queen>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
pernoctation (n):
1. An overnight stay; action (or instance) of abiding through the night
at a location.
2. The action (or an instance) of walking about at night, especially
as a vigil or watch
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/pernoctation>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
The good man, though a slave, is free; the wicked, though he reigns, is
a slave, and not the slave of a single man, but — what is worse — the
slave of as many masters as he has vices.
--Augustine of Hippo
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Augustine_of_Hippo>
120px|Tumbler Ridge Town Hall
Tumbler Ridge is a small town in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains
in northeastern British Columbia, Canada, and a member municipality of
the Peace River Regional District. The municipality, with its
population of 2,454Â people, incorporates a townsite and a large area of
mostly Crown Land. The housing and municipal infrastructure were built
simultaneously in 1981 by the provincial government to service the coal
industry. In 1981, a consortium of Japanese steel mills agreed to
purchase 100 million tonnes of coal from two mining companies that were
to operate the Quintette mine and the Bullmoose mine. Declining global
coal prices after 1981, and weakening Asian markets in the late 1990s,
made the town's future uncertain. When price reductions were forced
onto the mines, the Quintette mine was closed in 2000 and the town lost
about half its population. Since 2000 rising coal prices have led to
the opening of new mines. After dinosaur footprints, fossils, and bones
were discovered in the municipality, the Peace Region Paleontology
Research Centre opened in 2003. Economic diversification has also
occurred with oil and gas exploration, forestry, and recreational
tourism. Nearby recreational destinations include numerous trails,
mountains, waterfalls, snowmobiling areas and provincial parks.
(more...)
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_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1028:
Future Byzantine empress Zoe first took the throne as empress consort
to Romanos III Argyros.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zoe_Porphyrogenita>
1893:
Mortimer Durand, Foreign Secretary of British India, and Abdur Rahman
Khan, Amir of Afghanistan, signed the Durand Line Agreement,
establishing what is now the international border between Afghanistan
and Pakistan.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Durand_Line>
1936:
The San Francisco – Oakland Bay Bridge, connecting San Francisco and
Oakland, California across San Francisco Bay, opened to traffic.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Francisco_%E2%80%93_Oakland_Bay_Bridge>
1942:
World War II: The Naval Battle of Guadalcanal , the decisive engagement
in a series of naval battles between Allied and Japanese forces during
the months-long Guadalcanal campaign in the Solomon Islands, began.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naval_Battle_of_Guadalcanal>
1991:
In Dili, East Timor, Indonesian forces opened fire on student
demonstrators protesting the occupation of East Timor, killing at least
250 people.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santa_Cruz_massacre>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
eclaircissement (n):
An explanation of something obscure or unknown; clarification,
enlightenment
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/eclaircissement>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
If the learned and worldly-wise men of this age were to allow mankind
to inhale the fragrance of fellowship and love, every understanding
heart would apprehend the meaning of true liberty, and discover the
secret of undisturbed peace and absolute composure.
--Bahá'u'lláh
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Bah%C3%A1%27u%27ll%C3%A1h>
85px|Captain Harry Cobby in 1919
Harry Cobby (1894–1955) was the leading fighter ace of the Australian
Flying Corps during World War I. A bank clerk when war broke out, he
was prevented by his employer from enlisting in the military until
1916. After flying training, he was posted to the Western Front with
No. 4 Squadron AFC. In less than a year of combat he achieved 29
victories, all flying the Sopwith Camel. Acclaimed a national hero,
Cobby transferred to the newly formed Royal Australian Air Force in
1921. He commanded No. 1 Squadron and RAAF Station Richmond, before
leaving to join the Civil Aviation Board in 1936. Re-joining the RAAF
at the outbreak of World War II, Cobby was awarded the George Medal in
1943 for rescuing fellow survivors of an aircraft crash. The following
year he was appointed Air Officer Commanding No. 10 Operational Group,
but was relieved of his post in the wake of the "Morotai Mutiny" of
April 1945. Retiring from the RAAF in 1946, Cobby served with the
Department of Civil Aviation until his death on Armistice Day in 1955.
(more...)
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Kentucky
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_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1215:
The Fourth Lateran Council convened, defining the doctrine of
transubstantiation, the process by which bread and wine are transformed
into the body and blood of Christ.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/transubstantiation>
1620:
The Mayflower Compact, the first governing document of the Plymouth
Colony, was signed by 41 of the Mayflower's passengers while the ship
was anchored in what is now Provincetown Harbor.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mayflower_Compact>
1805:
War of the Third Coalition: French, Austrian and Russian units all
suffered heavy losses in the Battle of Dürenstein.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_D%C3%BCrenstein>
1918:
The armistice treaty between the German Empire and the Allies was
signed in a railway carriage in the Forest of Compiègne of France .
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armistice_with_Germany>
1940:
World War II: The German auxiliary cruiser Atlantis captured top secret
documents from SSÂ Automedon that would later influence Japan's decision
to enter the war.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_auxiliary_cruiser_Atlantis>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
bell the cat (v):
To undertake a dangerous action in the service of a group
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/bell_the_cat>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
I have seen the truth; I have seen and I know that people can be
beautiful and happy without losing the power of living on earth. I will
not and cannot believe that evil is the normal condition of mankind.
And it is just this faith of mine that they laugh at. But how can I
help believing it? I have seen the truth — it is not as though I had
invented it with my mind, I have seen it, seen it, and the living image
of it has filled my soul for ever. I have seen it in such full
perfection that I cannot believe that it is impossible for people to
have it. And so how can I go wrong? I shall make some slips no doubt,
and shall perhaps talk in second-hand language, but not for long: the
living image of what I saw will always be with me and will always
correct and guide me. Oh, I am full of courage and freshness, and I
will go on and on if it were for a thousand years! Do you know, at
first I meant to conceal the fact that I corrupted them, but that was a
mistake — that was my first mistake! But truth whispered to me that I
was lying, and preserved me and corrected me. But how establish
paradise — I don't know, because I do not know how to put it into
words. After my dream I lost command of words. All the chief words,
anyway, the most necessary ones. But never mind, I shall go and I shall
keep talking, I won't leave off, for anyway I have seen it with my own
eyes, though I cannot describe what I saw. But the scoffers do not
understand that. It was a dream, they say, delirium, hallucination. Oh!
As though that meant so much! And they are so proud! A dream! What is a
dream? And is not our life a dream? I will say more. Suppose that this
paradise will never come to pass (that I understand), yet I shall go on
preaching it. And yet how simple it is: in one day, in one hour
everything could be arranged at once! The chief thing is to love others
like yourself, that's the chief thing, and that's everything; nothing
else is wanted — you will find out at once how to arrange it all. And
yet it's an old truth which has been told and retold a billion times —
but it has not formed part of our lives! The consciousness of life is
higher than life, the knowledge of the laws of happiness is higher than
happiness — that is what one must contend against. And I shall. If only
everyone wants it, it can be arranged at once.
--Fyodor Dostoevsky
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Fyodor_Dostoevsky>
90px|Edward VII
Edward VII (1841–1910) was King of the United Kingdom and the British
Dominions and Emperor of India from 1901 until his death. Before his
accession to the throne, he held the title of Prince of Wales for
longer than anyone else in British history. During the long reign of
his mother, Queen Victoria, he was largely excluded from political
power and came to personify the fashionable, leisured elite. The
Edwardian era, which covered Edward's reign and was named after him,
coincided with the start of a new century and heralded significant
changes in technology and society, including powered flight and the
rise of socialism. Edward played a role in the modernisation of the
British Home Fleet, the reform of the Army Medical Services, and the
reorganisation of the British army after the Second Boer War. He
fostered good relations between Britain and other European countries,
but his relationship with his nephew, Wilhelm II of Germany, was poor.
Edward presciently suspected that Wilhelm would precipitate a war, and
four years after Edward's death, World War I brought an end to the
Edwardian way of life. (more...)
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of Antananarivo
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<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_VII>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1867:
Tokugawa Yoshinobu , the last shogun of Japan, tendered his resignation
to the Emperor Meiji.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tokugawa_Yoshinobu>
1938:
Kristallnacht began SA stormtroopers and civilians destroyed and
ransacked Jewish homes, businesses and synagogues in Germany and
Austria, resulting in at least 90 deaths and the deportation of over
25,000 others to concentration camps.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kristallnacht>
1989:
East Germany announced the opening of the inner German border and the
Berlin Wall, marking the symbolic end of the Cold War, impending
collapse of the Warsaw Pact, and beginning of the end of Soviet
communism.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/inner_German_border>
1998:
With the passing of the Human Rights Act, the United Kingdom abolished
capital punishment for all criminal offences.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_Rights_Act_1998>
2005:
Suicide bombers attacked three hotels in Amman, Jordan, killing a total
of about 60 people and injuring at least 115 others.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2005_Amman_bombings>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
banner blindness (n):
(chiefly Internet) Desensitization to common means of attracting
attention
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/banner_blindness>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
I had an experience... I can't prove it, I can't even explain it, but
everything that I know as a human being, everything that I am tells me
that it was real! I was given something wonderful, something that
changed me forever... A vision of the universe that tells us,
undeniably, how tiny, and insignificant and how ... rare, and precious
we all are! A vision that tells us that we belong to something that is
greater than ourselves, that we are not — that none of us — are alone!
... I wish I could share that. I wish, that everyone, if only for one
moment, could feel that awe, and humility, and hope. But ... that
continues to be my wish.
--Contact (film)
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Contact_%28film%29>
80px|Tenskwatawa
The Battle of Tippecanoe was fought on November 7, 1811, between U.S.
forces led by Governor William Henry Harrison and warriors of a Native
American confederation led by Shawnee brothers Tenskwatawa (pictured)
and Tecumseh. While Tecumseh was away recruiting allies, Harrison
marched with about 1,000 men to disperse the confederation's
headquarters at Prophetstown, near the confluence of the Tippecanoe and
Wabash Rivers in what is now the U.S. state of Indiana. The outnumbered
warriors from Prophetstown launched a surprise attack, but Harrison's
army prevailed. Public opinion in the United States blamed the conflict
on British interference, a suspicion that served as a catalyst to the
War of 1812. When the U.S. declared war on Great Britain in June 1812,
Tecumseh's confederacy, now allied with the British, initiated its own
war against the United States. (more...)
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<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Tippecanoe>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1665:
The London Gazette, the oldest surviving English-language newspaper,
was first published as the Oxford Gazette.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London_Gazette>
1811:
American forces led by Indiana Territory Governor William Henry
Harrison defeated the forces of Shawnee leader Tecumseh's growing
American Indian confederation at the Battle of Tippecanoe near
present-day Battle Ground, Indiana.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Tippecanoe>
1885:
Construction of the Canadian Pacific Railway, the first
transcontinental railroad across Canada, concluded with financier and
politician Sir Donald Smith driving in the "last spike" in
Craigellachie, British Columbia.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Last_Spike_%28Canadian_Pacific_Railway%29>
1917:
Vladimir Lenin led a Bolshevik insurrection against the Provisional
Government of Alexander Kerensky, starting the Bolshevik Revolution,
the second phase of the overall Russian Revolution.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/October_Revolution>
1991:
Professional basketball player Magic Johnson announced his retirement
from the game because of his infection with HIV.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magic_Johnson>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
thunderous (adj):
Very loud; suggestive of thunder
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/thunderous>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
All systems of morality are based on the idea that an action has
consequences that legitimize or cancel it. A mind imbued with the
absurd merely judges that those consequences must be considered calmly.
It is ready to pay up. In other words, there may be responsible
persons, but there are no guilty ones, in its opinion. At very most,
such a mind will consent to use past experience as a basis for its
future actions.
--Albert Camus
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Albert_Camus>
120px|Rova of Antananarivo
The Rova of Antananarivo is a royal palace complex in the central
highlands of Madagascar. It served as the former residence of the
sovereigns of the Kingdom of Imerina from the 17th to the 19th
centuries. The Rova occupies the peak of Analamanga hill in the capital
city of Antananarivo. Merina king Andrianjaka (ruled 1610 to 1630) is
believed to have captured the hill from a Vazimba king and erected the
site's first fortified royal structure. Successive Merina sovereigns
continued to rule from the Rova until the fall of the monarchy in 1896.
The largest palace within the complex, called Manjakamiadana, was built
from 1839 to 1841 for Queen Ranavalona I. A fire on the night of 6
November 1995 destroyed or damaged all the structures within the Rova
complex shortly before it was due to be inscribed on the list of UNESCO
World Heritage Sites. Reconstruction of the Manjakamiadana exterior is
scheduled for completion in 2011. (more...)
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_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1856:
English author George Eliot's first work, Scenes of Clerical Life, was
submitted for publication.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scenes_of_Clerical_Life>
1869:
In the first official American football game, Rutgers College defeated
the College of New Jersey, 6–4, in New Brunswick, New Jersey.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_American_football>
1917:
World War I: Canadian forces captured Passendale, Belgium, after three
months of fighting against the Germans at the Third Battle of Ypres.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Passchendaele>
1935:
Before the Institute of Radio Engineers in New York, American
electrical engineer and inventor Edwin Howard Armstrong presented his
study on using frequency modulation for radio broadcasting.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/frequency_modulation>
1995:
Madagascar's Rova of Antananarivo, which served as the royal palace
from the 17th to 19th centuries, was destroyed by fire .
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rova_of_Antananarivo>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
antipodean (adj):
1. diametrically opposed
2. relating to the antipodes, or situated at opposite sides of the
Earth
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/antipodean>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
The appearance of a single great genius is more than equivalent to the
birth of a hundred mediocrities.
--Cesare Lombroso
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Cesare_Lombroso>
Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare is a 2007 first-person shooter video
game, developed by Infinity Ward and published by Activision for
Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and Wii. A
separate handheld game was made separately for the Nintendo DS. The
game was released in North America, Australia, and Europe in November
2007 for video game consoles and Windows. It was released for the Mac
in September 2008, then released for the Wii in November 2009, given
the name Reflex Edition. It is the fourth installment in the Call of
Duty video game series, excluding expansion packs, and is the first in
the Modern Warfare line of the franchise, followed by a direct sequel,
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 as well as the first game in the series
to have a Mature rating. The game breaks away from the World War II
setting of previous games in the series and is instead set in modern
times. Call of Duty 4 was in development for two years, and it uses a
proprietary game engine. On September 10, 2009, it was re-released in
Japan by Square-Enix. (more...)
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Deinosuchus
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_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1605:
Thomas Knyvet arrested explosives expert Guy Fawkes and foiled Robert
Catesby's Gunpowder Plot to destroy the Houses of Parliament in London
during the State Opening.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guy_Fawkes>
1838:
The collapse of the Federal Republic of Central America began with
Nicaragua seceding from the union.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_Republic_of_Central_America>
1950:
Korean War: The 27th British Commonwealth Brigade succeeded in
preventing a Chinese break-through at Pakchon in the Battle of Pakchon.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Pakchon>
1990:
Ultra-nationalist rabbi Meir Kahane was assassinated in a New York City
hotel by an Arab gunman.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meir_Kahane>
2009:
Major Nidal Malik Hasan of the United States Army went on a shooting
rampage at Fort Hood, the worst shooting ever to take place on an
American military base.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nidal_Malik_Hasan>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
swathe (n):
1. A bandage; a band;
2. (chiefly UK, usually in plural) A group of people.
3. Alternative
spelling of swath.
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/swathe>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
I may not be able to say all I think; but I am not going to say
anything that I do not think. I would rather a thousand times be a free
soul in jail than to be a sycophant and coward in the streets.
--Eugene V. Debs
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Eugene_V._Debs>